Da Nang Hoa Khanh Nam Ward, Lien Chieu District has about 8,000 households and up to 2,000 graves located among residential areas, many graves are located right on the premises.
The places with the most graves are the alleys and lanes on Pham Nhu Xuong and Me Suot streets, Hoa Khanh Nam ward, behind Da Nang University of Education. The most are group 21 with nearly 600 graves, group 33 with nearly 400 graves...
Mr. Huynh Hung, 51 years old, born and raised in lane 22 Pham Nhu Xuong street, said that before 1975, this area was rice fields, the graves of the clans and families from that time. Some graves were also built with gates and signs "cemetery". Later, people bought rice fields, raised the ground to build houses. At first, the houses were far from the graves, but later, as the population grew, they gradually encroached.
Mr. Hung's house has a row of rooms, the doors of the rooms look out onto the "Vo Toc cemetery". The land was left by his parents, when he saw many students and poor workers in need of accommodation, he built rooms for rent. Many people from other places were afraid to rent, but those who had lived here for a long time were used to it so the rooms were always full.
Nearly 2,000 graves are interspersed in residential areas in Hoa Khanh Nam ward, Lien Chieu district. Photo: Nguyen Dong
People living in this area are mostly low-income, accepting to buy houses and land with handwritten documents certified by the ward. Mr. Vo Mau Diem, 52 years old, said he bought a 50 m2 house in group 33 in 2000, for 50 taels of gold (equivalent to 22.5 million VND at that time).
"When we first moved in, the graves were overgrown with grass and there were many rats and snakes. Every day, my wife, children and I had to walk through the graves, which was sometimes scary, but after living there for a long time, we got used to it," Mr. Diem said. The population grew, people joined hands to turn dirt roads into concrete, clear weeds, and the landscape became cleaner.
Mr. Vo Quang Vinh, 51 years old, deputy head of group 33, said that in the area where he lives, there are 153 households, more than 50% of them have graves in their yards or in the cemetery in front of the alley. Mr. Vinh's house is sandwiched between two graves, about 5 meters away from the house are two other graves located symmetrically on the concrete road, like the gate of a residential area.
"I came here to buy a house of more than 40 square meters 10 years ago, with handwritten documents, for more than ten million VND. I'm in a difficult situation and have no place to live, so I accepted living with graves," said Mr. Vinh.
Many graves are located right in the residential area. Photo: Nguyen Dong
20 years ago, Da Nang City announced the railway station project and the urban area north of the station, most of the area for the two projects is in Hoa Khanh Nam ward. While many people are waiting for the new urban area, many others are secretly building houses on agricultural land to sell. The local government in the previous period had lax management, leading to the situation of thousands of houses being "built illegally".
Two former Chairmen of Lien Chieu District People's Committee, Duong Thanh Thi and Dam Quang Hung, were warned for "lack of timely inspection, detection and handling", allowing the project planning area to initially have 400 households, but now has more than 2,000 households and most of them are illegally built houses.
The population is increasing, while "suspended" projects have caused many consequences for people's lives. While people in groups 21, 33, Cam Tuc residential area... live with graves, hundreds of other households next to the drainage canal on Me Suoi Street have lived in the flood zone for the past two years.
Recently, when the railway station project was canceled, Mr. Vinh saw officials come down to measure the area. The government said there was a plan to relocate the graves, but the people kept "waiting". "We hope the city will soon relocate the graves and rebuild the urban area, arranging residential areas to ensure people's lives", he said.
People want graves to be relocated soon to ensure the landscape and environment. Photo: Nguyen Dong
According to Mr. Bui Trung Khanh, Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoa Khanh Nam Ward, in an area of about 10 km2 of the ward, in addition to cemeteries and the spiritual cultural area of Khanh Son village, there are currently nearly 2,000 built graves and earthen graves located in residential areas, close to people's houses. Relocating graves is beyond the capacity of the ward.
In October 2022, the People's Committee of Da Nang City assigned the task of relocating graves mixed in residential areas as one of the three key tasks of Lien Chieu District. The People's Committee of Lien Chieu District said that it had directed departments and offices to develop a plan, submit it to the city for appraisal and allocate capital for implementation in the period of 2023-2026.
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